THE
FOOL
---ruling.
THE
POPE
Hold tight to your articles! Here is my opinion. Westward, thou didst wrong. It matters not the intent. Thou hast offended thy mother---and,
possibly, thy sister---over a thing that signifieth naught. To repeat, art signifieth naught.(MR. BALDHAWK, attorney for MRS. HO, stands up.)
MR.
BALDHAWK
What
is his punishment?
THE
POPE
Forsooth, he mustn’t burn. Let us take the thing that he loveth---
MR.
BALDHAWK
His
blog?
THE
POPE
Aye. Take it and give it to his
mother. Enough! I near to die. Requiem in pace! Benedicte!(He leaves in a flurry of cardinals, bastards, and fools. The crowd starts to
leave. MR. BALDHAWK stops to address MRS. HO.)
MR.
BALDHAWK
May
I buy you dinner?(MRS. HO looks for a count of three, then deliberately---viciously---turns her
back.)
MR. BALDHAWK (Continued)
Song?(MR. BALDHAWK, beside himself, makes to leave. His busy hands mutilate
what is left of his hair. WESTWARD addresses MRS. HO.)
WESTWARD
Mother. Will you close “Plays: Short and Strange”? Will you close the blog?
MRS.
HO
It costs me nothing
to leave it open. I am a businesswoman.
WESTWARD
May
I still write for it?
MRS.
HO
Of
course not, my boy.
WESTWARD
(After a pause)Shall I gather my belongings and move out?
MRS.
HO
No,
my son. I am almost at an end of being angry.(Pause)
I very nearly made a mistake. But I did not make it.
(MRS. HO goes out a different way than MR. BALDHAWK. WESTWARD
stands in the fading light of the empty courtroom, then follows her.)
END OF PART XVIII.
